Best British Rock Albums

Kerrang! the Brit rock mag – the largest-selling rock music weekly has announced the results of its poll for the best British rock albums ever. They also host the Download music festival, which this year, incorporates Ozzfest in June at Donington Park, Uk

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath tops the list, with Ozzy garnering 6 albums – the most – out of the 100 item list. This was a reader-voted poll.

The Top 25:

1 Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath

2 Iron Maiden – Number Of The Beast

3 Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks

4 Led Zeppelin – IV

5 Black Sabbath – Paranoid

6 Muse – Absolution

7 The Clash – London Calling

8 Queen – Sheer Heart Attack

9 Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden

10 Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible

11 Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti

12 Judas Priest – British Steel

13 Def Leppard – Hysteria

14 Black Sabbath – Volume 4

15 The Darkness – Permission to Land

16 Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard of Ozz

17 The Wildhearts – Earth vs The Wildhearts

18 Lostprophets – Start Something

19 Queen – A Night at the Opera

20 Muse – Origin of Symmetry

21 Ash – Free All Angels

22 Motorhead – Ace of Spades

23 Stereophonics – Performance and Cocktails

24 Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go

25 Feeder – Echo Park.

Brit Rock has contributed much goodness to rock. One would have liked to see some Jethro Tull in the top 25.

from their hard rock/metal perspective this is an interesting and not awful list, although how Phys Graf can be seen as better than LZ1 or 2 is bewildering, and Paranoid BS4 are both vastly superior to the self-titled debut – it would be interesting to see more of the list. I wonder if it’s up on any boards or fan sites yet.

It looks to me like a pretty stupid list, all in all, save for 3, 4, and 7. And, Marty, who cares if the Sex Pistols were “manufactured”? I wish someone would manufacture something as dynamic that would set a fire under music today, don’t you?

Eric Olsen

also, Queen 1 is vastly superior to either Sheer Heart Attack (which I like) or the excremental A Night AT the Opera

Eric — I have the early Clash records on vinyl and so haven’t heard them in years, but I think I agree with you. They’re rougher, more purely British and snotty and rude than London Calling, I guess. I should go back and hear them again, I’m sure I’d enjoy it.

By the way, referring to one of your earlier posts, I like “Lose this Skin” a great deal too. One of my favorites. I play it often.

yea, yea! Give ‘Em Enough Rope starts off with the blazing “Safe European Home” and never lets up. a great record.

can’t agree on the Black Sabbath Paranoid/BS4 vs. the self-titled thing. the first Sabbath record is friggin’ killer.

course, eric sez that he rules so who am i to say? 😉

Eric Olsen

thanks Rodney, yeah, I really love a lot of Sandanista, in some ways more than London Calling, which is certainly more consistent, though. It’s ironic that London Calling is the choice here as it is just a “rootsy” as most anything by the STones, who aren’t included here, presumably for being too rootsy.

Re the fist two Clash’s: the first is straight punk, the second is some weird hard thrash more like Motorhead than punk or the later rootsy/funky they moved into

I honestly believe that the rash of “top 100” or so lists that we’re seeing from music magazines is a sign that they are hurting for quality content. These lists are pretty meaningless. But, they are meant to generate discussion and here I am responding when I should be ignoring.

There’s no Deep Purple in the first 25 in list above. Tsk, tsk!

SFC Ski

I humbly submit the premise that Rock ‘n’ Roll has grown too large, and too diverse, to be defined so narrowly in a “Best Of” list.

>>As with any such list, it says more about the readership of Kerrang than it says about anything else.

and we’re back at the beginning. 🙂

what the fudge is this poll playing at

this poll is so so bad i dont know wheather to laugh or cry. Real bands like the beatles, the smiths and countless others dont get a look in.I know its a kerrang poll so what about heavy stuff by jesus and the mary chain or new bands like 80’s matchbox b-line disaster, no after drilling home the fact that the poll is catered for heavy music they put f**king ASH there the worst kind of indie pop like stereophonics. They as well as every other band on this list bare four exeptions black sabbath, zeppilin, sex pistols and the clash are sh*t.The other 21 must have been picked by total f**king idiots. The thing is there are truly great bands from england that have affected and changed music as we know it, ands its a travesty that this list contains only four of them and replaces the ones that should of been there with bands that are not even worthy to even be mentoined in the same breath. its a disgrace